Memes have come to define a corner of the internet reserved for lighthearted banter and the sending up of cultural phenomena. The rise of this culture of commenting has added another dimension to the enjoyment of mediums like video games, and lets players and fans poke fun at their beloved franchises like Mass Effect.
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Mass Effect Is Way Too Meme-able
The Mass Effect series is an epic sci-fi RPG that sees Commander Shepard and crew save the galaxy time and time again from enemy after enemy. The fourth game in the series, Mass Effect: Andromeda, took the franchise in a new direction — specifically to a whole other galaxy — and focused on a new protagonist and their selection of squadmates. The Mass Effect series has proved incredibly popular with gamers, and BioWare even teased the next Mass Effect installment during N7 Day earlier this month.
What’s been almost as popular as the four entries in the series have been the memes generated from gameplay. From jibes at Shepard’s notoriously dodgy dance moves, to the Commander’s proclivity for chasing tail on board the Normandy, gamers have gone all-in for Mass Effect memes. Fans have even found similarities between Mass Effect and spy spoof Austin Powers, creating a truly hilarious visual mashup that will no doubt please gamers and film geeks alike.
Getting It On Throughout The Galaxy
Almost more memorable with fans than its gameplay, the romance aspect of the Mass Effect games has been a firm favorite since the initial release. It’s a testament to its widespread popularity that BioWare increased romanceable characters from just three in Mass Effect to double that in Mass Effect 2, and even more in Mass Effect 3 and Mass Effect: Andromeda.
Shepard’s infamous line “we’ll bang, OK?” went viral after mans1ay3r’s Mass Effect 3 Gamer Poop YouTube video, and has spawned many an inappropriate meme since. It perfectly encapsulates the occasionally cringe but undeniably fun romantic entanglements Shepard can find themselves in and celebrates the fans’ unofficial mission to get it on with as many weird and wonderful alien species as they can.
Hamsters Before Heroics
Another source of meme content in Mass Effect is Shepard’s penchant for fish and furry friends, which players can collect in their quarters on the Normandy. Everybody loves a good pet, and the Commander is no exception. One particularly iconic addition is Shepard’s space hamster, which sees players through many heartbreaks and acts of heroism. Slightly less cuddly but no less lovable is Shepard’s collection of fish, which along with the hamster can be purchased on the Citadel.
Fans have enjoyed making fun of these pets through memes, pointing out the ridiculousness of painstakingly building your ideal aquarium while the galaxy’s fate is literally in your hands.
My Evil Twin Did It
It’s the classic narrative cliché — you come up against a mysterious new foe, and they turn out to be none other than your evil twin. Or, in this case, evil clone. In the Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3, players face down a genetically engineered version of their Shepard before kicking back with their crew in Admiral Anderson’s fancy apartment.
The double Shepard debacle is fertile ground for memes, but BioWare beat players to the punch by using it to poke fun at themselves first. After OG Shepard comes face to face with their evil clone, they comment to their squadmates on the clone’s use of the iconic catchphrase “I should go” — an acknowledgment of its overuse, much to the characters’ and players’ amusement.
Equal Opportunity Shopping
While visiting the Citadel, players have the chance to endorse certain shops to gain discounts on items. However, there aren’t any limits on how many shops players can endorse, meaning Shepard can record their little video proclaiming this is their favorite store on the Citadel over and over.
Quite rightly, players have commented on Shepard’s lack of shopping fidelity, and have used this small and harmless aspect of gameplay to produce some comedy content.
Mass Effect’s Internet Boyfriend
Garrus Vakarian is consistently one of the most popular squadmates throughout the Mass Effect trilogy. He’s recruitable for all three games and romanceable in two if you play as Female Shepard. He’s not just a useful squadmate and franchise regular, but many fans ship the Shepard/Vakarian romance to the point of making fan art exclusively about their potential relationship outside of the games’ narrative.
His support of Shepard, awkward attempts at courtship, and an undeniable air of badassery have made Garrus everyone’s favorite Mass Effect crush (mandibles aside). This has spawned an inexhaustible font of memes, from “you vs. the guy she tells you not to worry about” to the “Distracted Boyfriend” image.
Shepard To The Rescue…Again
Some of the main missions throughout the Mass Effect series are compelling and have incredible settings and cutscenes, but the side missions can get a bit repetitive. Players dread those calls from Admiral Hackett or briefings from the Illusive Man if all they boil down to is “Shepard, someone messed something up and we need you to go and fix it.” Sometimes it feels like Commander Shepard is the only competent character in the entire galaxy.
Players were quick to spot these seemingly endless fixer missions, with copy and paste setups and similar setpieces. It didn’t take long for them to make fun of this endless to-do list of clean-up missions, where Shepard storms in like a one-person army to sort out the galaxy’s problems.
Glaring Glitches And Graphical Mishaps
With the success of the Mass Effect trilogy, fans eagerly anticipated the next installment in the franchise. Mass Effect: Andromeda was released in 2017, and it wasn’t long before players started to point out some glaring graphical mistakes and bugs. BioWare immediately worked on patches, but the damage had already been done.
Between hilarious facial contortions, NPCs merging with stationery objects, and weird walking animations, Mass Effect: Andromeda’s fate was sealed as a meme-worthy entry in the franchise and there was no coming back.
Mass Effect Legendary Edition is available right now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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